Transfer Factor Update

I just answered another post and decided to paste the response into a stand-alone post updating y'all on my progress on the Transfer Factors. I take the TF Immunity C and the TF System 200 from the Store here.

I have learned that TF's do not confer permanent immunity. The protocol so far is to take them for three months and then pulse back on them for 3-4 days every 4-6 weeks to keep them boosted and working.

I just had a Herx from my second six-week pulse, so I know that the TF's are working. I take them for three days. It takes a couple of days for the immune response to kick in and my lymph nodes swell up, I feel hot, and I feel a bit fluish. I also get headaches. Then, in several days, the diarrhea from hell hits and after that, I start to feel better. I had diarrhea yesterday and this morning. I suspect by tomorrow, I will feel much better.

I can count on not feeling well for about a week each time I pulse but I can pretty much pick the week I will not feel well. I work it into my schedule.

As bad as Herxing is, it is proof that the treatment is working. I recommend taking antivirals before starting the TF treatment to kill off as many viruses as possible. This causes Herxing itself, but it makes the TF treatment easier to tolerate. I do not recommend taking antivirals while taking the TF's. I don't think the TF's will work if one is on antivirals.

The TF treatment was by far the hardest treatment for me to tolerate in the beginning. It took a month before I was able to take a full capsule. For all that time, my lymph nodes were swollen and I felt horrible. It got easier as time went on and I am glad I stuck with it. I do feel in the long run that the TF's are better than continually taking antivirals. TF's train the immune system to kill pathogens and TF's increase the number of Killer Cells in the immune system.

I will continue to post updates here and on the FMS/CFIDS Board at this website. The TF's are now the only thing I am using to control pathogens.

and my doc suspects a viral infection (she did blood tests for an infection panel). I won't hear the results until 1/17. This is the first I am hearing learning about Transfer Factor's and wonder if you could explain them and anti-virals or direct me to another source for information? Also, could you explain what "herxing" is?

Transfer Factors contain the cellular info which our immune systems use to communicate that there is a threat in the body from a foreign invader. Many pathogens have learned to live beneath the immune system's radar system and thrive in our bodies. The Herpes-Family of viruses, especially the CMV, EBV, and HHV-6, are very common viruses which reactivate whenever we get run down. They can stay active in our systems instead of the usual latent state.

Antivirals, like Famvir, are good at killing them or beating them back into latency, but antivirals are not very effective against HHV-6, which so many of us have and which is very virulent.

As I said, I think antivirals are good to get the viral load down, but they only work as long as one takes them. The TF's, while they evidently do not confer permanent immunity, will keep on working for 4-6 weeks, and possibly longer, after one stops them.

Any substance or treatment which causes a large dieoff of pathogens in the body can cause Herxing. Dead pathogens turn toxic in the system until they can be expelled through the kidneys. That is why it is so important to drink lots of water.

I believe it is also imperative to build up one's own immune system with probiotics and undenatured whey. I also take colostrum when not on the TF's. These things, by themselves are a huge help in fighting stealth pathogens.

I hope this helps. It has taken more than 3 1/2 years to develop my treatment regimen and the TF's are just one part of it, but a very important part. For more info, read the posts on the FMS/CFIDs board on hypercoagulation. It is very relevent to ridding one's body of pathogens.

I really appreciate you taking the time to respond to me in such detail. It is very helpful! It can be so overwhelming when you are just newly diagnosed and don't know what to ask or what to learn about first. I just want to be as prepared as possible when I meet with my doctor next. I have had high white blood cell counts on and off for the last 20 years, but didn't link it to anything until I hit the proverbial brick wall in July and haven't been the same since. So my doctor really suspects long term infections.

Herxing sounds really awful, but then, what is the alternative!? I have terrible brain fog and wondered if the TF helped at all with that?

I'll continue watching for your posts to see how you are doing. Best of luck to you!

Visit the HEMEX Lab website. There is a lot of info on hypercoagulation which is caused by an overgrowth of fibrin in the blood. Pathogens hide out there. There is a panel of tests for this. When one has been sick with stealth pathogens for along period of time, excess fibrin is common. Low doses of Heparin will help clear out the fibrin and is an immune modulator.

Also go to Dr. Garth Nicolson's website, Immed. Dr. Nicolson has found that 60-70 percent of us with FMS/CFIDS have stealth mycoplasma bacterial infections. They are treated with long-term anitbiotics.

My Fibro Fog cleared up almost immediately with the Guai treatment, but I still have some cognitive problems when I am run down. The website for the Guai is Guaidoc.

Am trying to understand the Transfer Factor, which I think is clicking in. But where did the term "Herxing" originate? Is herxing the time when you are down with a severe flare? A reactivation? The time when you go under?
I understand the die off, but does herxing include vomiting?

Herxing can include vomiting. I have done it occasionally when Herxing. Herx is short for the Herxheimer Effect, named after the person who discovered it.

Herxing simply means something has killed off a large number of pathogens and they are turning toxic in the body before they can be excreted. The body will produce diarrhea, profuse sweating, and/or vomiting to get them out as fast as possible.

There have been rare cases where too many pathogens are killed off and it produces a toxic-shock-like situation and can make people very sick.

I just replied to your other post. Thank you for your kind words. I have found this website to be a wealth of info.

There are Fibro & Fatigue Clinics cropping up all over the place and from the reports here, they seem to be pretty comprehensive in their approach.

Good luck with your support group.

BTW, I tried to stop boosting the TF's and got sick after eight weeks. I am now back on the six-week booster schedule. I only take the TF's for two days and then wait. Within 48 hours, my lymph nodes swell, I get a headache and within another 48 hours, I have a strong Herx. Obviously, there are still pathogens in my system which need to be killed off and which my own immune system cannot handle alone. The effects of the TF's is not permanent, but eventually, I would think the load would drop to the point that my own immune system can take over. Obviously, that hasn't happened yet.

A few years ago ProHealth ran an article about transfer factor from a researcher at Duke Med Center named Aaron White. He now has a book out about transfer factor that is in its second edition. I haven't read the second edition but the first edition contained everything anyone could possibly want to know about transfer factor, including how they work, how much to take, what to expect and so on.

Also, there are other options for immune weaknesses available now that are good in different ways than transfer factors. Doing a search for "thymus protomorphogens" will yield interesting results. Protomorphogens are molecules that trigger specific organs (in this case the thymus, in which T-cells mature) to rebuild and work harder.

As other posters have pointed out, transfer factors don't seem to "fix" the immune problems that leave some of us vulnerable to infections. Rather, they help the body go after and kill whatever pathogens are in there. They do boost immune system health, but not enough to keep all people from relapsing if they stop taking them. Protomorphogens for thymus, thyroid, adrenals, and even the pituitary and hypothalamus seem to be promising adjuncts for treating basically any condition with an immune component.

Hope this helps!!

PS - The book is called "A Guide to Transfer Factors and Immune System Health, 2nd Edition" Again, I haven't read it but the first edition was excellent.

Yes, unfortunately, I don't think there is anything which works for everyone and, again unfortunately, there is no cure, or cures, for what ails us. TF's were a very important part of my regimen but Herpes-Family Viruses never leave the body. Even though the peptide injections have gotten rid of my CFIDS/ME, FMS and Sjogren's symptoms, if I get too run down or injured, whatever chronic, and usually latent, Herpes Family Virus will rear its ugly head. I keep the Acyclovir on hand as soon as the indicative sore throat and swollen lymph nodes appear. It takes only a short time now for it to handle the virus.

I look at TF's as little oral vaccines without the potential harmful side effects. The only severe side effect is when people don't go slowly enough when they start the TF's and get too harsh a reaction (Herxing). When I started out, I opened the capsules and sprinkled just a bit of the contents under my tongue. I still keep the TF's on hand and if the Acyclovir doesn't take care of things fast enough, I'll take the TF's for a couple of days.

There are a lot of treatments out there which can help us and work synergistically toward improved health. I never use the "C" word, cure, even when talking about my peptide injection treatment. I've gone from being bedridden most of the time, and on morphine, to leading a pretty functional and normal life. It didn't happen overnight; each treatment helped a little. Also, I've aged 14 yrs. since then so I can't expect to feel as I did before I got so sick. Many of us have been sooooo sick that any improvement in our conditions is like a miracle.

Thanks again for telling us about the book because the theory in TF's isn't easy to conceptualize.